Ribbon covering machine



June 23, 1931. G, L PREBLE 1,811,477

vRIBBON COVERING MACHINE l Filed Nov. 7, i927 2 sheets-sheet 1 'June 23, 1931. G. L. PREBLE 1,811,477

RIBBON covERING MACHINE Filed Nov. 7, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 23, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GEORGE LINCOLN PREBLE, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO PARCO SECIALTY CO., OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHSETTS KRIBBON COVRIYNG MACHINE Application filed November This inventionrelates to a methodv and apparatus for applying a temporary covering strip to an adhesively coated ribbon or the like.

The apparatus and method are of general application, but are particularly adapted to use in conjunction with a'machine disclosed in the cop'ending application of Sinius M. Hansen, Serial No. 127,048-, filed August t,

I i926. This machine is suitable for producing adhesively coated strips for a Wide range of purposes, being particularly adapted to the production of partially coated ribbon to be applied to shoe uppers and the like, ribbon '15 of this character being specifically disclosed in Patent No. 1,618,809 and Patent No. 1,618,754. It is advantageous toy cover the plastic adhesive material With a temporary y covering strip which preferably consists of 0 inexpensive, and comparatively yieldab'le or loosely Woven fabric. Thus the agglutinant is protected against accidental engagement with foreign objects' and its original poivers of adhesion are maintained for a long period of time. Since the ribbon or fabric Which carries the adhesive coating is formed of closely Woven material that is not as easily stretched or' deformed, it has heretofore beenY rather vdifficult to apply the 0 temporary coating strip to the adhesive material and to have the same remain permanently in place dueto the Widely varying characteristics of the two fabrics. Thus the strip which has been somewhat stretched during' the coating operation and Which normally has considerable clasticity Within certain limits, has tended to draw away from the covering strip and to cause puckering of the same. y

The apparatus more particularly forming the subject matter of the present invention is designed to overcome these difficulties and to apply the strip to the adhesive coating in such a manner that the fabric elements may remain in permanent engagement with each other. Thilo this apparatus may be used in a Wide variety' of environments and for various analogous purposes, it is particularly adapted foruse in conjunction with the machine disclosed in the above identified appli- 7, 1927. Serial No. 231,489.

cation of Sinius M. Hansen and as disclosed herein forms a part of that machine. Thus the adhesive coating has not fully reached its condition of permanent plasticity when the covering fabric is applied thereto. In other Words,- the plastic or viscous agglutinant is applied to one portion of one face of the ribbon and a certain amount of moisture is removed therefrom before the covering strip is applied. However the agglutinant has not yet attained its normal permanent condition when the covering strip is applied thereto. In order to conform to the Widely different characteristics of the base fabric and the covering strip, I provide mechanism to cast considerable tension upon the covering strip and to direct the latter along a path Which converges with the path of the ribbon.

I have found that the application of the covering strip to the coated ribbon is particularly effective when the strip is carried directly around a curved surface, such as the peripheral portion of the roller, and When the ribbon is engaged with the outer face of the covering strip as so disposed. I also prefer thence to conduct the superimposed elements to yieldably mounted factors which are effective in still further pressing the ribbon and strip into firm adhesive engagement, While aiding in the maintenance of a comparativelyV tight Wrap about the roller. Preferably the covering stri-p may be narrower than the partially coated ribbon and as a consequence, in the preferred embodiment of my invention, the covering strip is guided toward that portion of the ribbon which is adhesively coated.

The above and further objects and advantageous features of the invention Will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the subjoined description and claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a side elevational vieiv of a machine embodying' the apparatus Which more particularly forms the subject matter of this invention- Y lFig. 2 is a detailed plan vieu7 of the braking mechanism` for casting tension upon the cov ering strip;

table 1. The various rotatable rolls etc. of Y.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the apparatus;

Fig4 is an end elevation of the braking mechanism disclosed in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the assembly shown in Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is'a section on line 6 6 of Fig. 3.

While the apparatus which represents the Vspecific embodiment of the present invention 'may be used in conjunction with a wide variety of mechanisms and for various purposes, it is especially advantageous when used vin conjunction with a machine for'` adhesively coating ribbon or the like, prefer'- ably being arranged to receive the a-dhesively coated fabric when'the agglutinant haspartially dried and to effect the engagement of thecovering strip and the ribbon under these conditions.

yAccordingly Fig. 1 illustrates this appa.- ratus, indicatedin general by the symbol A, when used in conjunction with a machine of the character disclosed inthe above identified copending application. This machine comprises in general apparatus G for applying adhesive material, which preferably may bepermanentlyplastic, to a strip of ribbon 40 which may come fromany suitable source such as the spool 30. The agglutinant isv contained within the receptacle 10 and is supplied thereby to the factor G. From the latter the ribbon passes to the drying factor D which comprises, a large drying roll anda cooperating grooved roll 46. These rolls receive a large number of turns of the ribbon and, when rotated at a moderate speed, are effective in exposing each portion of the ribbon to the air for a considerable period of time. Preferably the roll 45 may be provided with suitable heating elements such as electric resistance members in Order to aid the drying eect. From the roll 45 the rib.- bon passes to rolls 70 and 71, whence it goes upwardly to the mechanism A more particularly forming thesubject matter of the present invention. This mechanismy is supported upon an upright 140 secured to the the machine and the/'apparatus A are driven Vby the electric motor 2 through the belt 82 and suitable belts, pulleysl and the'like, the apparatus A being driven by a belt 12() which extendsvupwardly from a pulley 193.

. Figs. 3 and 5'show in greater detail the mechanism yfor applying the coveringstrip to the adhesively coated ribbon.V This mechanism is'adapted toY receive the ribbon 40V from the roll 7 0 while the `covering strip 121 is received from a spool 122 which is provided with a suitable friction brake 123 of resilient' material to retard the movement of the spool or to place a. drag upon the covering strip.

Y A-suitable braking mechanism;124, Figs. 2 and 4,'is located between spool 122 and the point where the covering strip and ribbon meet, in order to cast still further tension upon the covering strip. This braking mechanism comprises a supporting bracket 125 and a pair of friction members or shoes 126, each of which comprises a yieldable block 127 of soft rubber or the like which is covered with suitable fibrous material 128 that has a comparatively highcoeiicient of friction.V The shoes are mounted upon the stud 119 which is provided with a head 129 and a thumb nut 130 in order to adjust the degree of compression imposed by the spring 131, the latter being located between the thumb nut and one of the friction elements yieldably to urge these elements toward each other.. Normally strip 121 is passed kbetween the 'elements and is thus subjected to considcrab-le friction. This Vis highly desirable since they tape 4G is being stretched somewhat due to its arrangement in relation to the several tape carrying rolls ofthe machine. lt is thus essential to stretch the fabrics corresponding amountsin order to permit their continued intimate engagement when they are released from tension. f

The ribbon 40` is received in a suitable grooved guide 194 which is provided with a passageway 132 of suitable width to conform substantially to the type of ribbon grooves 135 and 132 are arranged in convergingV planes in order to direct the strip and ribbon towardV the periphery of the roll 139. This roll is supported upon the upper vend of the upright 140 by means of a bracket 142. This bracket is provided with a hollow portion 143 in which is mounted a rotatable shaft 144 carrying the roll 139 at one end and the driving pulley`146 at its opposite end. Thus the pulley and roll 139 are driven by the belt 120 which in turn is rotated in response to the movement-of the main driving Vbelt 82 through suitable belts and pulleys or the like. TheV ribbon and strip' are preferably brought into superimposed4 engagement upon the periphery of roll 139 sothat the latter' is directly contacted with the surface of that roll while the coated portion of the former is superimposed upon the covering strip, this arrangement being particularly effective in insuring the continued intimate ripheral portionof roll 139 and thence pass between rolls 147 and 148, the former being rigidly supported upon the arm 158 which extendsroutwardly from bracket 142 `and the latter being Vmounted upon the outer end of lil the ar1ng182 which ispivotallyl connected v8ith the bracket, as designated by numeral The roller 148 is provided with suitable flanges 187 which are juxtaposed to opposite faces of roller 147 and are adapted to cooperate with the face of each roller in providing a guideway therebetween for the combined ribbon and covering strip. A suitable resilient element 189 such as a rubber band serves normally to draw the outer end of arm 182 towards the Xed roller 147. Thus the peripheries of rolls 147 and 148 are yieldably urged toward each other and serve still further in pressing the ribbon and covering strip in iirm adhesive engagement with each other. The roller 147 is driven by a belt 195 which engages pulleys fixed to roll 139 and roll 147 respectively, thus serving to throw a suitable tension upon the combined ribbon and covering strip, as these elements pass from roll 149. It is evident that apparatus of the character disclosed herein may be used in a Wide variety of environments when it is desired to provide a temporary covering strip for an adhesively coated portion of a sheet. While for purpose of illustration and description, I have referred particularly to a ribbon and a covering strip it is obvious that the width and character of these elements may be varied widely and consequently I intend the following claims to be read in accordance with the possible equivalent uses of this machine. It has been found that a machine of this character is particularly ,effective in applying a loosely woven, yieldable coveringr fabric to an adhesive coating which has been applied to a ribbon of much closer texture, and experiments have shown that the wrapping of the ribbon and covering strip about a curved surface such as the periphery of roll 139 is particularly effective in insuring the continued firm adhesive engagement of these elements and in avoiding the tendency of the fabric elements to pucler and draw away from each other which has otherwise been usual.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for applying a covering strip to a ribbon which has a portion adjoining one margin adhesively coated and the remainder uncoated, said apparatus comprising a guide passage for the ribbon, a guide passage of smaller width for the covering strip arranged to direct the strip toward the coated portion ofthe ribbon, and a roller adapted to receive the ribbon and strip Wrapped thereabout in superimposed relation, a pair of rollers, means yieldably urging said rollers toward each other, said pair of rollers being arranged to receive therebetween the strip and ribbon as they leave the first named roller.

2. Apparatus for applying a covering strip to a ribbon which has a portion adjoining one margin adhesively coated and the remainder uncoated, said apparatus comprising a guide passage for the ribbon, a guide passage of smaller width for the covering strip arranged to direct the strip toward the coated portion of the ribbon, means engaging the strip as it passes to the guide to impart a frictional drag to said strip, a roller adapted to receive the ribbon and strip wrapped thereabout in superimposed relation, a pair of rollers, and means yieldably urging said rollers toward each other, said pair of rollers being arranged to receive therebetween the strip and ribbon as they leave the first named roller.

8. Apparatus for applying a covering strip to an adhesively coated ribbon, comprising a guide for the ribbon, a guide for the covering, a roller, said guides being arranged to direct the ribbon and covering along converging paths which meet at the periphery of the roller, and a pair of rolls yieldably urged toward each other, said rolls and guides being arranged at opposite sides of the roller in such a manner that the ribbon and covering may be wrapped in superposed relation about a considerable portion of the circumference of the roller.

4. Apparatus for applying a covering strip to an adhesively coated ribbon, comprising a guide for the ribbon, a guide for the covering, a roller, said guides being arranged to direct the ribbon and covering along converging paths which meet at the periphery of the roller, a pair of rolls yieldably urged toward each other, said rolls and guides being arranged at opposite sides of the roller in such a manner that the ribbon and covering may be Wrapped in superposed' relation about a considerable portions of the circumference of the roller, and a friction brake adapted yieldably to grip the covering before it passes to its guide.

Signed by me at Lynn, Massachusetts, this 26th day of October, 1927.

GEORGE LINCOLN PREBLE.

IOC 

